Dr. Murray Feingold: Growing older brings on worries about dementia

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May 28, 2014 at 4:33 PMMay 28, 2014 at 4:33 PM

By Dr. Murray FeingoldMore Content Now

As we grow older, many people become concerned about losing their intellectual abilities, becoming cognitively impaired. For those who are about to, or are entering senior citizen status, the “D” word, dementia, can produce a great deal of anxiety. This is a legitimate concern because dementia takes place mainly in the elder population.

Generally, there are three levels of intellectual decline. First is the normally expected decline of cognitive ability associated with aging such as becoming a little more forgetful - not being able to find where you placed your glasses or not knowing what you were looking for when you went into the kitchen.

The second level is termed “mild cognitive impairment.” This is associated with difficulties with memory, language, thinking and judgment and is more involved than the manifestations present in normal aging. It usually does not have a major effect on your activities of daily living.

The third level is dementia, a much more severe intellectual loss. This increases by 5 percent in people in their 70s to 24 percent in people in their 80s.

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the more common degenerative neurological diseases associated with dementia. There are also many other more rare neurological conditions, in which dementia is a major symptom.

Besides aging and neurological diseases, there are other risk factors for dementia such as heart disease, depression, vascular problems, physical frailty, alcoholism and never being married.

In the very early stages of dementia, it may be difficult to determine its specific cause, but now there are more accurate ways to make the diagnosis. Simple screening tests can determine if there are significant signs of intellectual loss present. Various scanning studies such as MRIs and CT scans detect brain abnormalities associated with dementia.

A recent report showed that by using mass spectrometry of the blood, the presence of certain biomarkers can predict if an individual will develop Alzheimer’s disease, years before symptoms appear. In genetic forms of dementia, gene sequencing will shortly be able to make the diagnosis at birth.

The more we learn about the causes of dementia, the sooner we will uncover better treatment and more importantly, ways to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Massachusetts-based Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in chief of The Feingold Center for Children, medical editor of WBZ-TV and WBZ radio, and president of the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds the care of children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases.